Construction material



Jan. 15, 1929. 1,698,733

R. P. PERRY ET A1.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL Filed DEC. 8, 1919 lNvENToRS WH fffmw ATTO R N EY Patented Jan. l5, y1929.

UNITED STATES 1,698,733 PATENT OFFICE.

RAY P. BERRY, 0F UPPER MONTCLAIR, lAND KENNETH B. HOWELL, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNORS :,130 THE BARRETT COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

coNsTRUcTIoiv MATERIAL.

Application led December 8, 1919. Serial No. 343,287.

This invention relates to the production of yconstruction or building material. It relates more particularly to the roduction of bodies of such material W ich shall possess a high degree of rigidity and shall bc covered on one or both surfaces With an amount or layer or sheet of surfacing materials suoli as crushed mineral matter oi' asbestos or the like.

The invention in its broad aspects is not .restricted tothe production of fiat, rigid, surfaced sheets, but it is applicable to materials in other forms than flat sheets, such as articles having roundeds or irregularly shaped surfaces. The invention may also be ap lied to the production of products of some exibility, and to products not entirely -covered with the crushed mineral or asbestos or other surfacing material.

Some of the objects of the invention are to overcome defects that arise when articles of the character indicated are produced by the old^ processes, to cheapen the manufacture, and to produce the articles in such a Way that a more nearly perfect product may be obtained and which shall have the coatingwinaterials distributed in a very uniform manner, when desired.

In the drawings an arrangement of apparatus is illustrated somewhat diagrammatically in which /the invention may bev carried out. t

Fig. 1 is a side view of a machine.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the article of manufacture before it has been compressed.

Fig. 3 is a side vim of a press for coinpressing the material.

In. the drawings reference character 1 In the drawings* paper-making designates a tank or vat for holding the paper-making material 2, this paper-making material being a Water pulp of iibrous and comminuted bituminous material. A foramiiious cylinder 3 projects into the pulp `2, and upon revolving in the direction indicated by the arrow, a sheet 4 is formed kcomprising the ibrous and comminuted water-.

proofing material. This sheet 4 is picked up ,by the Wet blanket 5 which passes ovei the rollers 6 and 7 and may be cut ofi' at proper intervals and assembled as indicated in Fig. 2 with a layer or coating of surfacing material 8. The plies or layers 4, as shown in Fig. 2, may then be placed in a press having a base Q which maybe heated ing material by iuids introduced through the pipes 10 and 11. The plunger 12 of the press is provided with a face 13 which may be heated by a heating iuid introduced through the pipes 14 and 15. By the application of heat and pressure in this press, the plies of material may be compressed and the bituminous material fused so as to cement the plies or layers, andl at the same time the layer of surfacing material will be caused to adhere to the Completed article.

More specilically stated, th hin sheet 4 is made to contain fibrous mate al such as Wood pulp, rag stock, etc., and waterproofsuch as bitumen, pitch, asphalt, resin, etc., the sheet containing preferably a large proportion of waterproofing or bituminous material in comminuted form such as shot, filaments, powder or emulsion. The sheets maybe produced as above described or may be produced by forming a thin sheet of the mixture on a perforated or foraminated fiat surface through which the Water passes leaving a sheetcontaining the fibers and comminuted particles intimately mixed together. The sheets may be thoroughly dried if desirable. .The formation of the thin sheet is not restricted to a particular method, but it is desirable for the purposes of this invention that the sheet be Vformed with a large percentage of waterprooiin" /or bituminous material, and that the fibres be matte/d or interlocked together. Vhen using pitch as the. bituminous material very satisfactory results have been obtained by using percentages running from about to about 90% of pitch based upon the total Weight of the Water free sheet.

A number of the thin sheets above described are placed upon each other, either before or after they have been dricd,.and. are pressed together Lunder high pressure at such a temperature as to cause the Waterproofing or bituminous .material to fuse and thoroughly unite the successive sheets into'a substantially unitary and homogeneous product. The number of sheets pressed together will depend upon the thickness desired for the final product. As an illustrative example it may be mentioned, that When pitch of a meltinoF point of-about 200 F. 's used it has been ound that a pressure of about 100 lbs. to 250 lbs. per square inch maintained for about- 3 to 6 minutes at a temperature of about 350 F. serves to produce an excellent union so that the junction plane between the sheets practically disappears and the product becomes in effect a homogeneous article With no visible demarcation between the successive laminations. The fibres at the surfaces of the original contacting layers appear to mat or -the article.

intermingle tosome extent and the bitumen acts as a cementing agency as it is fused and squeezed out of the thin sheets thus making a strong, rigid structure When the bitumen cools and solidiies. A certain amount of bituminous material may be applied to the surfaces of the thin sheets before or during the time they are being assembled for the hot pressing operation thereincreasing the bituminous content of the product, although this procedure is not necessary and tends to produce a product which has an inordinately large amount of bituminous -material in certain portions.

The product of the present invention is not completed until there has been applied to one or more of its surfaces an amount of surfacing material that differs in characteristics or appearance from the fibrous and fusible material which the article thus far described contains. This feature of the invention may be carried out by using asbestos or crushed minerals Such as stone, slate, etc., or other suitable materials that may be ornamental or impart other desirable characteristics to the final product. In applying such materials to the product a quantity of the surfacing material, which may be in the form of a sheet of ,asbestos or other material such as so-called rubber roofing, etc., orl a layer of crushed mineral matter, or pigments of coloring matter, such as iron oxide, etc., may be applied to the top side of ,the last thin sheet that is assembled before the hot press- `ing operation and the plates of the press next to the asbestos or mineral may be kept cool While the thin sheets are being unified `by the hot pressing operation until near the end of such operation. This precaution will prevent the bitumen from striking through the sheet of asbestos. or layer of mineral but Will cause it to cement or bind such materials to the articles in a very effective manner by oozing out of the top thin sheet and sticking to the bottom of the asbestos or mineral.

As an optional Way of applying the asbestos or mineral or other surfacing material, the article` may first be unified as above described and then the surfacing material united thereto by a second hot pressing operation in which the heat enables the bitumen to fuse and cause the surfacing to adhere to In a similar manner the surfacing material may be applied to both sides of the article. It is obvious that the surfacing material wlrich may even be of asor have good wearing qualities sorted colors, may be applied as segregated particles or in a discontinuous manner instead of a sheet or layer of the same thereby securing a mottled or stippled appearance which is sometimes desirable for ornamental purposes, especially for Wall boards.

Another convenient Way of applying a mineral surfacing to the articles is to prepare a base of fibrous material, saturate the same With Waterproofing material, apply a coating of asphalt kor similar material thereto and While the coating is still Warm and sticky sprinkle the crushed mineral thereon. This base, surfaced With crushed mineral, is placed on top of the thin'layers of material and as they are hot pressed the base carrying the mineral particles becomes unil This method of applying 'surfacing material to corrugated sheets or those having irregular surfaces possesses a decided advantage over other methods in that a layer of greater uniformity of thickness is applied than would be possible if such material Were merely sprinkled thereon. The disadvantage of the former methods is due to the tendency of the material to collect in the low or depressed portions and leave the high or raised portions bare When the material is applied ,by sprinkling. ln all cases according to the present process the bitumen incorporated in the thin sheets during their manufacture is available for causing the surfacing material to adhere to the article and for causing the thin sheets to become united.,

The products obtained as herein described furthermore differ materially from Watersidings, Wall boards, etc., and may even be made suitable to be used on a roof Without requiring a solid roof deck as they can be made so as notr to sag too much bet-Ween supports. The products differv from the usual Wall boards by their combination of rigidity rand thoroughly incorporated Vbitumen content Which is quite uniformly distributed throughout. They differ from pitch board in that their surface coatings render them more attractive in appearance and provide a better fire and-Weather resistant product than the unsurfaced pitch board.

We claim:

l. The process Which comprises forming a body of a plurality of sheets of fibrous material and comminuted bituminous material that is rigid at ordinary atmospheric temperatures, applying a sheet of asbestos to the body and subsequently uniting said sheets and asbestos to each other by the applieation of heat and pressure.

2. As an art terial and bituminous material that is rigid 1 at ordinary lcle of manufacture, a body 5 comprising a plurality of layers of substantially uniformly distrbutedjbrous maatmospheric temperatures,

which have become homogeneously united with each other by heat and pressure and hav- 10 -ing asbestos surfacing material adhering 

